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Lot Essay
Much of the appeal of Stubbs’ paintings stems from his intelligent, empathetic and compassionate approach to his animal subjects, as is perfectly demonstrated by this charming horse and spaniel and the following lot, typical of the types of commission that Stubbs received from wealthy, landed patrons during the 1770s. As noted by a foreign visitor to the country in the mid-eighteenth century, ‘the English in general have a degree of friendship and affection for horses which few men show even to their own species’ (cited N. Clee, ‘Horseracing in the Time of George Stubbs’, George Stubbs: All Done from Nature, 2019, p. 53.) With this passion for horses came a desire for reliable mounts: a ‘quiet and gentle’ horse was favored over one of exceptional pedigree and high-breeding.
More than simple depictions of animals, Stubbs painted true portraits of horses. Here we should note the remarkably glossy coat of the horse facing to the right, with his bright white blaze and one jaunty white sock. The spaniel, sniffing out a scent along the ground, adds further life to the scene. In both the present painting and its pair (see following lot) the classical influence towards balance and restraint evident in all of Stubbs’ work can be felt. The carefully depicted mounts are set against a slightly impressionistic landscape, with the pink-gold light of dawn filtering through the trees. This approach owes a debt, however subliminal, to the landscapes of artists such as Richard Wilson, (who Stubbs had known in Italy in 1755), and through him the work of Claude.
It is this innovative marriage of the careful observation of nature and a sense of the poetic that set Stubbs apart from his contemporaries and has ensured the continued popularity of his paintings. Indeed, Stubbs epitomizes the ‘Golden Age’ of British painting, with a huge number of his greatest works still hanging in the houses of the families for whom they were originally painted, suggesting that these ‘belong to a richer and more complex patrimony even than the masterpieces of Gainsborough or Joshua Reynolds.’ (A. Kidson, George Stubbs, a Celebration, Liverpool, 2006, p. 4.) The present painting and its pair, though not coming from their original home, have an equally rich provenance, having belonged to Prince Ali Kahn, socialite, racehorse owner and jockey, who reportedly purchased them to please his future wife, the Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth (fig. 1). They were later presented as a gift from the Prince to the father of the present owners.
As well as being prized for the nobility of his compositions, Stubbs was also a pioneer when it came to capturing the precise anatomy of his subjects. This interest in anatomy stretched over his entire career from his younger days in York where, based at the County Hospital, he had drawn and engraved illustrations for Dr. John Burton’s 1751 study An Essay towards a Complete New System of Midwifery. Most famously, between 1756 and 1758, the artist worked on his ground-breaking project, The Anatomy of the Horse, which was first published in 1766 and contained eighteen finished studies all done from his first-hand dissection of horse cadavers. Having read this, the Dutch physician Petrus Campus commented in a letter to Stubbs dated 1771 ‘If ever I was surprised to see a performance, I was it surely when I saw yours upon the Anatomy of the Horse! … How is it possible a single man can execute such a plan with so much accuracy and industry? (cited in N. Hall ed., Fearful Symmetry: George Stubbs, Painter of the English Enlightenment, New York, 2000, p. 210). Stubbs carried this same accuracy and industry into each of his paintings.
Stubbs increasingly favored panel as a support for his paintings during the 1770s, when his techniques and working methods began to become more experimental in medium and execution. Inspired by the smooth surfaces that he had employed while painting on enamel and earthenware (in collaboration with Josiah Wedgewood), Stubbs’s choice of panel appears to have been aimed at replicating this smooth, hard surface on a larger scale. After firmly establishing his reputation in the preceding decade, the 1770s saw the painter making use of progressively more unusual materials and mediums, using very thin glazes of paint diluted with beeswax, pine resins and non-drying oils. In this regard, Stubbs must be seen as an archetypal product of the Enlightenment, championing the pursuit of knowledge and scientific discovery even within the creative process of painting.
More than simple depictions of animals, Stubbs painted true portraits of horses. Here we should note the remarkably glossy coat of the horse facing to the right, with his bright white blaze and one jaunty white sock. The spaniel, sniffing out a scent along the ground, adds further life to the scene. In both the present painting and its pair (see following lot) the classical influence towards balance and restraint evident in all of Stubbs’ work can be felt. The carefully depicted mounts are set against a slightly impressionistic landscape, with the pink-gold light of dawn filtering through the trees. This approach owes a debt, however subliminal, to the landscapes of artists such as Richard Wilson, (who Stubbs had known in Italy in 1755), and through him the work of Claude.
It is this innovative marriage of the careful observation of nature and a sense of the poetic that set Stubbs apart from his contemporaries and has ensured the continued popularity of his paintings. Indeed, Stubbs epitomizes the ‘Golden Age’ of British painting, with a huge number of his greatest works still hanging in the houses of the families for whom they were originally painted, suggesting that these ‘belong to a richer and more complex patrimony even than the masterpieces of Gainsborough or Joshua Reynolds.’ (A. Kidson, George Stubbs, a Celebration, Liverpool, 2006, p. 4.) The present painting and its pair, though not coming from their original home, have an equally rich provenance, having belonged to Prince Ali Kahn, socialite, racehorse owner and jockey, who reportedly purchased them to please his future wife, the Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth (fig. 1). They were later presented as a gift from the Prince to the father of the present owners.
As well as being prized for the nobility of his compositions, Stubbs was also a pioneer when it came to capturing the precise anatomy of his subjects. This interest in anatomy stretched over his entire career from his younger days in York where, based at the County Hospital, he had drawn and engraved illustrations for Dr. John Burton’s 1751 study An Essay towards a Complete New System of Midwifery. Most famously, between 1756 and 1758, the artist worked on his ground-breaking project, The Anatomy of the Horse, which was first published in 1766 and contained eighteen finished studies all done from his first-hand dissection of horse cadavers. Having read this, the Dutch physician Petrus Campus commented in a letter to Stubbs dated 1771 ‘If ever I was surprised to see a performance, I was it surely when I saw yours upon the Anatomy of the Horse! … How is it possible a single man can execute such a plan with so much accuracy and industry? (cited in N. Hall ed., Fearful Symmetry: George Stubbs, Painter of the English Enlightenment, New York, 2000, p. 210). Stubbs carried this same accuracy and industry into each of his paintings.
Stubbs increasingly favored panel as a support for his paintings during the 1770s, when his techniques and working methods began to become more experimental in medium and execution. Inspired by the smooth surfaces that he had employed while painting on enamel and earthenware (in collaboration with Josiah Wedgewood), Stubbs’s choice of panel appears to have been aimed at replicating this smooth, hard surface on a larger scale. After firmly establishing his reputation in the preceding decade, the 1770s saw the painter making use of progressively more unusual materials and mediums, using very thin glazes of paint diluted with beeswax, pine resins and non-drying oils. In this regard, Stubbs must be seen as an archetypal product of the Enlightenment, championing the pursuit of knowledge and scientific discovery even within the creative process of painting.